1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an enclosure for housing an automatic teller machine comprising a pair of folding sections which expand from their closed position to provide a structure sufficiently large to be entered by service personnel, and which takes up minimum room when folded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic unmanned teller machines are common in today's society. Such machines are commonly located away from the principal banking offices, such as in lobbies, airports, shopping centers or installed in and accessible from an outside wall of a bank building. Most of such machines have 24 hour walk-up or drive-up availability, and the machines must be secure from access by unauthorized persons both from the outside where the automated banking is performed by the public and from the inside where the mechanisms of the machine and usually cash are located.
In addition to availability and security, another factor in the location for such machines is that they take up as little space as possible. When installed on an outside wall of a bank building it is important that the machine be accessible for servicing, but if its security enclosure extends too far into the banking premises, it takes away from room otherwise available for bank workers. When the machine is being serviced it is also necessary that such servicing take place in a secure environment. All these factors are possible if the housing for such machines comprises a pair of folding sections, one of which fits next to the other, with access into the enclosure being possible only when the sections of the enclosure are unfolded.
An expandable security structure for housing an automatic teller machine comprising a pair of telescoping sections that nest together is shown in U.S. Patents to Hastings, U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,523 and the Stine, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,302, but neither of these references have the simplicity of the present invention.
Numerous other security enclosures have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to enclosure of housings of automated teller machines having electronic computer systems. For example, Ferris et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,261; Berman U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,513,670 and 4,577,562; Trucksess U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,239 and to Couvrette U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,475 all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purpose of the present invention as hereafter described.